Rendering Unto Caesar: Bonsai Education‏

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The other day a bonsai sakura plant showed up in the lobby of the building where I live. It brought back memories of my time in public elementary school music class singing the Japanese ode to the sakura tree. I asked a young woman who works for the property management company if she had music classes in her elementary school experience. It did not surprise me when she answered in the negative.

This led to a discussion with students about the role and value of music classes in elementary education. One of the students had other things on her mind. She remarked that the practice of bonsai cultivation reminds her of fundamentalist religion. It deliberately stunts the growth of its practitioners. Bringing the topic back to education, I asked if the same could be said about elementary education without the cultural enrichment of music classes. Those who have not been through the process feel somehow deprived of a higher quality educational experience. Exposure to music from different cultures at a young age can encourage further development in cultural studies. Learning a variety of musical patterns could ease the way into learning a variety of languages.

A fundamentalist music program would not dare venture into such diversity. It would strictly limit its repertoire to music that promotes servility and obedience to authority. Jazz, Blues, and Hip Hop would be strictly placed beyond the pale. The Rock genre would be allowed only in its softer form promoting adoration for the despot in the sky. Doing the twist would not be in the curriculum.

It has been said that heavenly governance is like a tiny seed that grows into a tree sheltering a variety of creatures. Hellish governance could be said to be the bonsai gardener who prevents the tree from growing beyond the height of a child's knee, sheltering only a race of rats. Reading the Bible is mandatory. Understanding what it says is verboten.

What do you think about the tendency for public education to emphasize the mechanics of arithmetic and grammar while falling short in the development of broader skills?

Link: School children singing "Sakura". MENC's list of 42 songs every American should know (including "Sakura"). Kenneth McGuire on the MENC list of 42 songs.

Comments

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

There's a bit of a problem with art in particular. So many schools out there give little formal training, even in highschool. You're usually given little projects to do, make a stoneware pot here, do a finger painting there. Then collage comes and you finally taught how to draw 3D forms, and how to properly mix pigment and use complementary colors to shade. If you're lucky, I mean really lucky, you learn to start from "light to dark" in watercolor and from "dark to light" in oils. In highschool humanities seems to have to make up for lack of theories about perspective and composition. As a result most adults do not know this!

Art, good professional art, requires a ton of effort and focus. It is something that takes a lifetime to master, yet formal instructions on it is hard to find.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Except at schools with specialized arts curricula, the quality of art instruction at the high school level seems to be a bit of a crap shoot. It is probably difficult to attract quality artists to the teaching profession, and to get funding for arts programs, which some view as a frill.